The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors having electrical contacts that engage corresponding mating contacts of another electrical connector.
Electrical connectors are used to transmit data and/or power in various industries. The electrical connectors are often configured to repeatedly engage and disengage complementary electrical connectors. The process of mating the electrical connectors may be referred to as a mating operation. For example, in a backplane communication system, a backplane circuit board has a header connector that is configured to mate with a receptacle connector. The receptacle connector is typically mounted to a daughter card. The header connector includes an array of electrical contacts (hereinafter referred to as “header contacts”), and the receptacle connector includes a complementary array of electrical contacts (hereinafter referred to as “receptacle contacts”). During the mating operation, the receptacle contacts mechanically engage and slide along the corresponding header contacts. The sliding engagement between the receptacle and header contacts may be referred to as wiping, because each receptacle contact wipes along an exterior surface of the corresponding header contact.
Electrical contacts are often plated to enhance performance and/or durability of the electrical contact. For example, electrical contacts used to transmit data signals may include one or more underlying contact materials and a layer of gold plating that covers the underlying contact material(s). Gold plating is generally inert and does not react with the surrounding environment. Consequently, the gold plating can protect the underlying material(s) of the electrical contact. Gold plating, however, may include pores that form during the plating process. The pores may expose the underlying material(s) to corrosive agents and may negatively affect electrical performance. To address these problems, the gold plating is often coated with a corrosion prevention compound, which is hereinafter referred to as a pore-blocking substance. The pore-blocking substance may include organic materials (e.g., non-metallic materials) and may impede or inhibit the development of corrosion through the pores.
The pore-blocking substance, however, may be inadvertently removed from the electrical contacts during the manufacture of the electrical connectors and/or during operation of the electrical connectors. For example, the sheet metal from which the electrical contacts are formed may be coupled to an interleaving paper that separates adjacent coiled layers of the sheet metal when the sheet metal is rolled. When the interleaving paper is removed, the pore-blocking substance may be removed with the paper. Also, when the electrical connectors are assembled, the pore-blocking substance may be removed when the electrical contacts engage portions of the connector housing or other objects. Furthermore, the pore-blocking substance may be removed during a mating operation between electrical connectors and/or evaporate during operation of the electrical connectors. When the amount of the pore-blocking substance is reduced, the electrical contacts may be more susceptible to damage.
Accordingly, a need remains for electrical contacts that maintain a sufficient amount of pore-blocking substance along an exterior surface of the electrical contacts.